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Thursday, March 24, 2011

For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with the Russian culture. I can remember being as young as 10 and going to the library and checking out the few books on Russia our little library had and reading them over and over and over. All the books had pictures of samovars. I didn't know exactly what it was at that time, but I knew I wanted one. When I met my Papa Bear 16 years ago I had no idea he was an Armenian from Russia. We've been together ever since and I have learned lots about the Russian culture.My mother in law came for a visit this past weekend and made one of my wishes come true. She brought me a real Russian samovar!! Mr. Toby had to get in on some of these photos... he is such a bad kitty. There was no getting rid of him during my "photo shoot."

I love, love, love the khokhloma style painting on the samovar. LOVE IT!!!

This is the nozzle you pour the heated water from the samovar from. And of course, Toby!

Here is where you would place your teapot with tealeaves and a big of hot water. It will slowly heat from the water heating under it.

I cannot use it right now because of the electric adapter. It's not compatible with our plugs.

I love the flowers and fruits. It matches all my other Russian decorations in my kitchen.

I am so in love with my samovar. I wish I could use it. Emil and Nic said it's not a good idea. They both said the best samovars are the really old ones that has a hole in the middle and you stick wood in it. We checked some out on eBay but with the prices they are going for it will be another 16 years before I can get one!!

She is the oldest. When I bought her on eBay she was around $30. Now this exact tea cozy, because of her age, can easily go over $100.

I am so happy to finally have a samovar, even if I can't use it. I have wanted one for so long I am sure I will enjoy just looking at it each time I walk into my kitchen. I couldn't thank my mother in law enough!!!

Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share my favorite treasure with you. Please stop by and see Cindy @My Romantic Home and Beverly @How Sweet the Sound for more wonderful blogs with wonderful posts!!

And I'm finally almost ready to do my next giveaway. I just need to add in a few more items!

16
comments:

Your samovar is GORGEOUS - that painting is incredible! My mother inherited my grandmother's samovar and I hope to get it as well someday - so much prettier for parties than my giant industrial looking 40-cup coffee pot from Costco, LOL! Thanks for visiting my blog!

What a beautiful samovar. Made even more so because it was a gift from your MIL. I have never traveled to Europe but have seen "adaptors" for plugs (US plugs) to work in Europe. So maybe you could find an adaptor to do the reverse. One side would go into the samovar plug and the other side of the adaptor would fit into our US, what 220 volt plugs. You could look at Triple A website, they have all kinds of things related to traveling. I hope you find something you can convert so you can use that beautiful, long dreamed of gift. Let me know. Happy PS

That's a beautiful Samovar. I have never seen one that was painted. Yours is truely a gift of love. We bought a Samovar while we were in Moscow but ours is all brass and has a teapot on the top. I love it.Happy Pink Saturday, Char

What a special post! I studied Russian thru high school & uni & spent 2 months in the USSR in the late 1960s. I love the samovar. I have various items of Russian painted items I brought home & treasure so it was really special to see yours! I don't have a cyrillic keyboard, but spaseba! cnaceba? anyway, thanks!Ruth